MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 6.8% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 6.8% to about $72.71 on heavy volume, and analysts' consensus is a Buy with an average target of $79.08, though individual ratings range from Strong‑Buy to Sell.
• MP beat EPS ($0.09 vs. $0.02 est.) but revenue fell 13.6% YoY to $52.7M; the company remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (-38.26%), negative ROE and a negative P/E.
• Insiders sold 346,000 shares (~$22M) in the past 90 days, including CEO and CFO reductions, while MP Materials operates Mountain Pass, the only commercially viable rare‑earth mine and processing facility in the U.S.

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) traded up 6.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $73.10 and last traded at $72.7110. 8,472,629 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 6,966,806 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $79.08.

MP Materials Stock Up 6.8%

The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -139.83 and a beta of 1.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $57.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.81.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The company had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $76.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The firm's revenue was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,816 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $670,000. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $9,702,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $550,000. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,089,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in MP Materials by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 11,544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.

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